The Baguio Adventure

I always did like going to new places. I don’t usually end up going anywhere that far, though. The farthest place we’ve been to (and by ‘we’, I mean my family and I) was Romblon and that was a long, long time ago. When my Aunt, Uncle and cousins came over for Christmas, we knew that after Pueblo they would be going to Baguio. I didn’t know, or would have guessed, that me and my sister, Mara would end up going with them too.

Oh-Em-Gee! Strawberry!!!

I don’t know much about Baguio except for little facts like: the weather there is cold, that it’s a mountain city, and that there are Strawberries there. Ah, Strawberries the most delicious fruit that God had ever created. It’s no secret that Strawberry is my favorite fruit and it’s no secret that I enjoy eating Strawberry Jam and cheese with my crackers. But this post isn’t about the wonderful fruit known as the Strawberry but of our short vacation at Baguio City.

Mara in the van to Baguio.

On the 25th of December, we left Pueblo por la Playa to head to Manila. It had been established, the day before, that we (me and Mara) would be going along with Auntie Berly, Uncle Dan, Uncle Joe, Patrick, Anna, and Ate Mei to Baguio. Abby was so pissed that she won’t be able to come along since she still had classes (nurse duty to be exact since she’s studying to be a nurse and later, be a doctor). I think if she could have ditched those classes-slash-duties without getting reprimanded or having to pay a fine, she would have done so with a blink of an eye. The thing was, she couldn’t do that and so she got left behind along with our parents (although they did come along to Manila that day).

A shot from my phone. The mountain city of Baguio.

6 hours of sitting inside the van was uncomfortable, add that to the fact that my phone’s battery was dead and I did not have any interesting games on my PSP or my DS, and I mostly just ended up sleeping on our way to Baguio. Of course, I did manage to keep myself awake to take in the sights and I would have taken pictures except that my phone was dead. What was Mara doing while we were on our way to Baguio? Well, she had her iPod on and she was asleep. Though she does manage to wake up whenever she receives a text message–like she has some internal alarm clock that’s specifically designed to wake her up when a text message arrives (shh, don’t tell her I said that).

Me and Ate Mei on horseback.

We arrived at Baguio sometime after lunch on the 26th, which was a Sunday and we stayed there until the 28th. We did quite a number of activities which included horseback riding (ugh, I could still remember the pain that brought to my thighs).

Another horseback riding photo.

It was my first time riding a horse that I could actually remember since every time I decline this particular activity for fear of falling out of the horse. Believe me, while I was riding the horse, I kept on praying that it would not join with the other horses and their riders galloping like professionals. I swear, if the pink-maned horse that I was riding (yes, the horse’s mane was pink) had decided to “run like the wind” I would have screamed my lungs out into infinity and beyond.

Apart from riding a horse, Uncle Dan, Ate Mei and Mara even tried the zip-lining and rappelling while Patrick and Anna gave a shot at wall climbing.

Mara staring at one of the paintings at BenCab's art gallery. I have never pegged Mara as an art enthusiast before. Hmm...

We also went to an art gallery–the BenCab Museum (I still have the ticket stub with me, lol), which was a first for me (and I think for Mara as well). I’ve never been in an art gallery before and I really enjoyed looking at the paintings. There are also dozens of Bulul statues exhibited at the museum along with other Ifugao artifacts.

A view from back of the museum.

The view from the museum was also beautiful. If ever I’m going to own a big lot, I would like my garden to look and be as big as that. Also, it would be cool to have my own studio at home–and I don’t just mean an art studio, I’m talking about a photo studio and even a place where I can work on special effects for videos (which, by the way, is among the things that I enjoy doing).

There’s also the market where we purchased most of our pasalubong with the exception of the jams.

Ate Mei took photos of us, so we took a photo of her while she was taking a photo.

…And then, there was the Eco Trail. *dun-dun-dun-duuun!*

The Eco trail.

In my 23 years of existence, I have never–and I mean never–walked that far. Granted there were instances when I was forced to walk for quite a distance (which included that time when I was in my second year of collage and the PUJs and the Tricycle drivers decided to hold a strike. I had to walk from AMA to Perez Park before I could manage to hitch a ride) but I have never walked a 1.8km (twice, might I add since we had to walk back from where we came from) mountain trail in my life. I was so tired and I could have sworn that I would faint there and then. Mara was laughing at me the entire time and if Abby was with us, she would have been hysterical with laughter.

Me, Ate Mei and Mara. ^_^

Still, it was fun. As much as I am not a fan of long-distance, uphill climbing, I did enjoy myself. The trail looked as though it was straight out of the Twilight Saga movies that, if you have read the book and are a fan, you would have a hard time not imagining Edward Cullen or Jacob Black suddenly appearing from behind the trees (or if you have read the books Shiver and Linger, you would think Sam and the other wolves would be lurking around there). I was supposed to be taking a video of the whole hike up and down the trail but…I was so freaking tired that most of the shots I had were of the ground, some trees, more ground, and Mara’s back. Add that to my the soundtrack of me wheezing, huffing and puffing in exhaustion and you would be as frustrated of me as my mom and Abby are of the footage (which they shouldn’t blame me for. I was dead tired from walking! Hmph!).

Since Abby wasn’t able to come with us, Mara and I promised to buy her a souvenir. The said souvenir came in the form of a shirt. We also bought our mom a small keychain and a cellphone accessory that looked like a slipper–she’s collecting those, you see. My dad didn’t want us to buy any souvenirs for him so we bought him a jar of Strawberry Jam.

At Baguio with our cousins

I wish I could add every single photo that we have in this blog post but, I don’t really want to populate it too much with photos. Although, I did upload every photo I have of this adventure over at Facebook (much easier to do that at the moment since I am still working on a photo gallery for this blog).

It was really fun and I hope that we get to visit Baguio again and that my mom, dad, and Abby would be able to come along with us.

There is nothing more that I enjoy doing than reading books and writing. I'm kind of a nerd like that, XD. I have been writing for 7 years and am the author of the YA novel "Winged: The Awakening" and "Winged: The Unraveling".